"To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour."

William Blake

Out beyond ideas of right-doing and
wrong-doing, there is a field. I'll
meet you there."

Rumi

The Invitation

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for,
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love,
for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow,
if you have been opened by life's betrayals or
have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain!

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own,
without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own,
if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be
careful, be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you're telling me is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself;
if you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.

I want to know if you can be faithful
and therefore be trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty
even when it is not pretty every day,
and if you can source your life from God's presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine,
and still stand on the edge of a lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes"!

It doesn't interest me to know where you live
or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair,
weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done
for the children.

It doesn't interest me who you are, or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself,
and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments

by Oriah Mountain Dreamer (an Indian Elder)

The Power of Thought

A grain of wheat for years was kept
Until one day by a broom was swept,
It found its way to a fertile field
Sprouted roots and then did yield
At least seventy two grains
Of wheat from different strains,
From each in turn, seventy two
Different grains of wheat grew;
And so from one grain of wheat
Its progeny the world replete.

And if a thought can only find
A receptor, a fertile mind
Independently of that mind
Will issue forth without a bind,
And from that one original thought
Many strains will surely sprout;
A thought has a life of its own
It will not die once it is known.
Prophet, poet, every hero
Brought a thought and let it grow
And from that one heroic thought
Its progeny, a new world brought.

Rumi

Anyway

People may be unreasonable, illogical and self-centered,
Love them Anyway.

If you do good, people may accuse you of selfish motives,
Do good Anyway.

If you are successful, you may win false friends and true enemies,
Succeed Anyway.

The good you do today, may be forgotten tomorrow,
Do good Anyway.

Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable,
Be honest and transparent Anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight,
Build Anyway.

People who really want help may attack you if you help them,
Help them Anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you may get hurt,
Give the world your best Anyway.

Mother Theresa

OUT OF THE ROLLING OCEAN THE CROWD

Walt Whitman (1819-1892)


Out of the rolling ocean the crowd came a drop gently to me,

Whispering I love you, before long I die,

I have travel'd a long way merely to look on you to touch you,

For I could not die till I once look'd on you,

For I fear'd I might afterward lose you.



Now we have met, we have look'd, we are safe,

Return in peace to the ocean my love,

I too am part of that ocean my love, we are not so much separate,

Behold the great rondure, the cohesion of all, how perfect!

But as for me, for you, the irresistible sea is to separate us,

As for an hour carrying us diverse, yet cannot carry us diverse forever;

Be not impatient - a little space - know you salute the air,

the ocean and the land,

Every day at sundown for your dear sake my love.

IF

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on !";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Rudyard Kipling

I am Blessed Indeed

Og Mandino


Today upon a bus, I saw a lovely girl, I envied her:
She seemed so happy. And I wish I were as fair.
And then, suddenly,she rose to leave, and I saw her hobble down the aisle,
She had one leg and wore a crutch,
But as she passed, a smile.

Oh God, forgive me when I whine, I have two legs,
I am blessed indeed. The world is mine!

Later, walking down the street,
I saw a man with eyes of blue.
But he just stood and watched the others play.
So, I stopped a moment and then I said,
"Why don't you join the others, sir?"
But he looked ahead without a word.
And then I knew he could not hear.

Oh God, forgive me when I whine, I have two ears,
I am blessed indeed. The world is mine!

And later, I stopped to buy some sweets,
The lad who sold them had such charm,
I talked with him. If I were late, it would do no harm.
But as I turned to go, he said to me,
"I thank you sir. You've been so kind.
It's nice to talk with folks like you."
"You see," he said, "I am blind."

Oh God forgive me when I whine, I have two eyes,
I am blessed indeed. The world is mine!

With legs to take me where I want to go,
With ears to hear the things I need to know,
With eyes to watch that radiant sunset glow.

Oh God, forgive me when I whine,

I am blessed indeed!
The world is mine!

Nirv�na-Shatka: Six Stanzas on Extinction

Om. I am not mind, higher mind, I-maker, or memory; not hearing, tongue, smell, or eyes. I also am not ether, air, fire, water, or earth. I am of the nature of Consciousness and Bliss. I am That. I am That (1)

I am not the life force, not knowledge, not the five “breaths”; neither the seven elements nor the five casings. I also am not speech, hands, feet, genitals, or rectum. I am of the nature of Consciousness and Bliss. I am Shiva. I am That. (2)

I have no hatred or passion, no greed or delusion. I also am without pride and envy, without law and aim, without desire and release. I am of the nature of Consciousness and Bliss. I am That.  I am That. (3)

I know not good or evil, not pleasure or pain, not mantra or sacrificial place, not the Vedas or sacrifice. I am neither the enjoyer nor that which is to be enjoyed, and also not enjoyment. I am of the nature of Consciousness and Bliss. I am That. I am That. (4)

I know neither death nor fear, and belong to no caste. I also am without mother and father; I am even without birth, and without relatives or friends, without teacher or pupil. I am of the nature of Consciousness and Bliss. I am That. I am That. (5)

I am free from change, formless. I am omnipresent, ever transcending the senses. I am without liberation and impossible to know. I am of the nature of Consciousness and Bliss. I am That. I am That. (6)

Ashtavakra Gita: The Song of Ashtavakra

If only you will remain resting in consciousness,

seeing yourself as distinct from the body,

then even now you will become happy,

peaceful and free from bonds.

You do not belong to the brahmin or any other caste,

you are not at any stage, nor are you anything that the eye can see.

You are unattached and formless, the Witness of everything - so be